Dinosaur Jr | The Guardianhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/dinosaurjr
Latest news and features from theguardian.com, the world's leading liberal voiceen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2015Tue, 31 Mar 2015 21:50:44 GMT2015-03-31T21:50:44Zen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2015The Guardianhttp://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.pnghttp://www.theguardian.com
J Mascis review – grunge godfather discovers his acoustic sidehttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jan/09/j-mascis-review-scala-london-dinosaur-jr
<strong>Scala, London</strong><br />Sounding like a stoned Bon Iver, the Dinosaur Jr frontman applied a sensitive approach to new songs and selected gems from his back catalogue<p>As the singer and guitarist of Dinosaur Jr, <a href="http://www.jmascis.com/" title="">J Mascis</a> was always an unlikely figurehead for the late-1980s US grunge rock movement. Where <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/kurt-cobain" title="">Kurt Cobain</a> had the nihilistic edge and Eddie Vedder and Chris Cornell the rock-star swagger, Mascis always resembled a befuddled roadie who had wandered on and plugged in.</p><p>Yet even the notoriously inanimate performances of his youth were positively dynamic compared with his current incarnation. Alone on stage and now stocky of build and with a grey mane flowing from under his baseball cap, the taciturn Mascis sits inside a bunker of monitors and flight cases like a grizzled survivalist.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jan/09/j-mascis-review-scala-london-dinosaur-jr">Continue reading...</a>Dinosaur JrPop and rockMusicCultureFri, 09 Jan 2015 13:16:08 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jan/09/j-mascis-review-scala-london-dinosaur-jrPhotograph: Maria Jefferis/Redferns via Getty ImagesGrizzled survivalist … J Mascis performs at Scala in London. Photograph: Maria Jefferis/Redferns via Getty ImagesPhotograph: Maria Jefferis/Redferns via Getty ImagesGrizzled survivalist … J Mascis performs at Scala in London. Photograph: Maria Jefferis/Redferns via Getty ImagesIan Gittins2015-01-09T13:16:08ZBoston Calling: the city at the heart of America's DIY renaissancehttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jan/03/boston-calling-american-bands-diy-renaissance
<p>The east coast city has always had its share of influential bands, but today, more groups are taking the stage under their own steam</p><ul><li><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/nov/20/hardcore-music-hard-fast-us-punk-rock">From Bad Brains to Cerebral Ballzy: why hardcore will never die</a></li></ul><p>Boston has always existed on the fringes of America’s cultural fabric. The American Revolution started there, it boasts one of the most robust intellectual communities in the world, it is the birthplace of Dunkin’ Donuts, and it has a turbulent <a href="http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/2002/11.07/09-racism.html">racial history and divide</a>. It’s a town of academic transients, middle-class families and the working-class Bostonian populace.</p><p>But Boston is also home to a tradition steeped in underground folklore that’s much louder, one forged on the head-banging energy of punk rock’s forebears: the city’s consistently booming independent punk, metal, hardcore, indie-rock and post-punk music scenes. The aging record collector and millennial-music-snob should know about Boston heavyweights like Siege, Jerry’s Kidz and Amherst’s Dinosaur Jr – bands who, in eras defined by blaring guitars, booked their own tours and played shows before their like-minded disciples. The Boston scene, just like the influential hardcore punk of Reagan-era Washington DC or Seattle’s flannel-wearing grunge scene, embodied an actively rebellious ethic, and thus wore the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/dec/06/hookworms-joanna-gruesome-uk-diy-music">anti-corporate Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mentality</a> boldly on its sleeve.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jan/03/boston-calling-american-bands-diy-renaissance">Continue reading...</a>MusicBostonCultureDinosaur JrNirvanaUS newsSat, 03 Jan 2015 14:00:19 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jan/03/boston-calling-american-bands-diy-renaissancePhotograph: Emma Rothenberg-Ware/PRSpeedy OrtizPhotograph: Emma Rothenberg-Ware/PRSpeedy OrtizPhotograph: Brantley Gutierrez/PR imageAmherst’s Dinosaur Jr embody the regional spirit of BostonPhotograph: Brantley Gutierrez/PR imageAmherst’s Dinosaur Jr embody the regional spirit of BostonSam Blum2015-01-03T14:00:19ZDinosaur Jr, Converge, Visions Festival: this week’s new live musichttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/aug/02/this-weeks-new-live-music
<p>Dinosaur Jr | Converge | Visions Festival | Supernormal | Joe Sample | Encounters In The Republic Of Heaven</p><p>The stormy union of a laconic leftfield guitar hero (J Mascis) and a fragile and oversharing songwriter (Lou Barlow), Dinosaur Jr’s marriage was always destined to end in divorce. Still, what the trio created in their mid-to-late 80s incarnation helped restore to the era some of the qualities thought long since outlawed: extended guitar soloing, confessional songwriting, home knitted apparel. As such, the Boston trio laid some serious groundwork for grunge (their anthem Freak Scene predates the movement). This reformation has reaped diminishing returns since 2009’s enjoyable comeback LP Farm, but, live, their driving and heartbroken noise testifies to a spikiness that endures.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/aug/02/this-weeks-new-live-music">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockMusicCultureDinosaur JrSat, 02 Aug 2014 05:00:17 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/aug/02/this-weeks-new-live-musicPhotograph: PRDinosaur JrPhotograph: PRDinosaur JrJennifer Lucy Allan, Andrew Clements, John Fordham & John Robinson2014-08-02T05:00:17ZListen to J Mascis – Wide Awake: track premierehttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jul/29/listen-to-j-mascis-wide-awake-track-premiere
<p>The godfather of grunge and former Dinosaur Jr frontman returns for another solo album. Listen to his duet with Cat Power here and let us know what you think </p><p>The godfather of grunge did the unthinkable in 2011 by swapping his trademark distortion and fuzz for the gentle strums of an acoustic guitar. A few years after the release of Several Shades of Why, and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/aug/03/j-mascis-dinosaur-jr-interview">J Mascis</a> is still favouring the more mellow approach to songrcraft with his new album, Tied to a Star, out in August. </p><p>&quot;There's not many other people on the record,&quot; the master of the monosyllabic response recently told <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/j-mascis-talks-new-mellow-solo-album-tied-to-a-star-20140611">Rolling Stone</a>. &quot;So I'll just tour by myself for it probably. I put out a record a couple of years ago like that. I got this guy Ken, a local guy, to play piano. And Paul from Black Heart Procession does a couple things. The last album had a lot of different people. This one I didn't have that much.&quot;<br /></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jul/29/listen-to-j-mascis-wide-awake-track-premiere">Continue reading...</a>Dinosaur JrPop and rockMusicIndieCultureTue, 29 Jul 2014 14:00:28 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jul/29/listen-to-j-mascis-wide-awake-track-premierePhotograph: PRPared down … J MascisPhotograph: PRPared down … J MascisGuardian music2014-07-29T14:00:28ZDinosaur Jr – reviewhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/feb/05/dinosaur-jr-review
Electric Ballroom, London<p>Hitting London mere days after My Bloody Valentine's surprise release of their <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/feb/04/mbv-review-my-bloody-valentine?intcmp=ILCMUSTXT9384" title="">21-years-in-the-making third album</a>, fellow fuzz freaks <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/dinosaurjr" title="">Dinosaur Jr</a>, their cult buzz completely stolen, should have kept their heads down until&nbsp;the clamour cleared. As bandleader J Mascis cradles himself in a cocoon of Marshall stacks – his trail of white hair making him look part alt-rock elder statesman, part stoner Gandalf – there is&nbsp;none of the frenzied debate that has surrounded MBV; no one wonders what noise Mascis's guitar will make. A man of few words – &quot;Yes!&quot; he repeats, three times – he'll emit the muddy grunge mulch he helped originate in the mid-1980s, when he called it &quot;ear-bleeding country&quot;, and which he never grew out of. Every few minutes he'll adorn it with a &quot;shredding&quot; solo. Even the cartoonish backdrop of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:I_Bet_on_Sky.jpeg" title="">bubble faces poking out of a cloud</a>, like much of the music, could have been culled from a homemade garage demo in 1986.</p><p>Despite touting a formula virtually unchanged for 30 years, and in an electro-integrated age where gnarly old fuzz-rock is considered woefully passe, it's remarkable how fresh and visceral Dinosaur Jr still sound. Particularly when bona fide hits <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbNmTyDhIas" title="">The Wagon</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbMNxuCY1YU" title="">Freak Scene</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrRPQqvwjFE" title="">Start Choppin'</a> punch through the fug; or the highlights from last year's melodically glistening 10th album, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/sep/13/dinosaur-jr-bet-sky-review" title="">I Bet On Sky</a>, lash Mascis's toke-choked vocals to tunes boasting Lemonheads lightness and Mot&ouml;rhead meat. But an hour in, you find yourself yearning for something as crisp and clear-headed as&nbsp;Sebadoh's masterly <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=expcmtqTyC4" title="">Flame</a>,&nbsp;written by original Dinosaur Jr bassist Lou Barlow, now back in the fold after an acrimonious split in 1989. A final cover of the Cure's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJLOr8S2d2E" title="">Just Like Heaven</a>, complete with a hell-beast's howl for a hook, further sweetens this shameless sludgefeast.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/feb/05/dinosaur-jr-review">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockCultureMusicDinosaur JrTue, 05 Feb 2013 18:05:10 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/feb/05/dinosaur-jr-reviewShirlaine Forrest/WireImageHot fuzz … Dinosaur Jr at Electric Ballroom, London. Photograph: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImageShirlaine Forrest/WireImageFine fuzz … Dinosaur Jr at Electric Ballroom, London. Photograph: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImageMark Beaumont2013-02-05T18:05:10ZJohnny Marr to join Dinosaur Jr … for one nighthttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/oct/26/johnny-marr-join-dinosaur-jr
Former Smiths guitarist will assist the alt-rockers in show celebrating 25 years since their album You're Living All Over Me<p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/johnnymarr" title="">Johnny Marr</a> will join Dinosaur Jr for a concert in New York. The former <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/smiths" title="">Smiths</a> guitarist will assist the rockers at a gig celebrating the 25th anniversary of their album <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2aOOma7ckA" title="">You're Living All Over Me</a>.</p><p></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/oct/26/johnny-marr-join-dinosaur-jr">Continue reading...</a>Johnny MarrDinosaur JrPop and rockIndieMusicCultureFri, 26 Oct 2012 13:10:06 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/oct/26/johnny-marr-join-dinosaur-jrKi Price/Invision/APJunior senior … Johnny Marr at the Q awards this week. Photograph: Ki Price/Invision/APKi Price/Invision/APJunior senior … Johnny Marr at the Q awards this week. Photograph: Ki Price/Invision/APSean Michaels2012-10-26T13:10:06ZDinosaur Jr's J Mascis turned down Nirvana offerhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/oct/05/dinosaur-jr-j-mascis-nirvana-offer
Kurt Cobain asked Mascis to join Nirvana not once but twice – an offer which he declined, the guitarist has revealed in an interview<p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/dinosaurjr" title="">Dinosaur Jr</a>'s J Mascis has revealed that <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/artist/3c9b356d-d1db-4f4e-a7a3-2d00c1d70255" title="">Kurt Cobain</a> tried to convince him to join Nirvana. &quot;Kurt said, 'you should join my band,'&quot; the guitarist recalled. &quot;I didn't think much about it.&quot;</p><p></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/oct/05/dinosaur-jr-j-mascis-nirvana-offer">Continue reading...</a>Dinosaur JrMusicNirvanaIndiePop and rockCultureKurt CobainFri, 05 Oct 2012 10:25:51 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/oct/05/dinosaur-jr-j-mascis-nirvana-offerTimothy Herzog/PRNevermind … Dinosaur Jr's J Mascis turned down an offer from Kurt Cobain. Photograph: Timothy HerzogTimothy Herzog/PRDinosaur Jr's J Mascis. Photograph: Timothy HerzogSean Michaels2012-10-05T10:25:51ZDinosaur Jr: I Bet on Sky – reviewhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/sep/16/dinosaur-jr-bet-sky-review
(Pias)<p>Since re-forming in 2005, <a href="http://www.dinosaurjr.com/" title="">Dinosaur Jr</a> have sensibly quit the public bickering and made records that augment rather than detract from their canon, edging ever closer to the sound of Neil Young's Crazy Horse output as they slow down. Their third post-reunion album is another assured collection, with J Mascis's dazzling guitar work as ever taking centre stage, his croaked vocals, meanwhile, suggesting that here is a man who is not au fait with the cosmetic powers of Auto-Tune. Inevitably, there's nothing quite as astonishing as 1988 single Freak Scene here, but <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpsGcnLEZbk" title="">Watch the Corners</a> and Pierce the Morning Rain show there's plenty of&nbsp;life in them yet.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/sep/16/dinosaur-jr-bet-sky-review">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockMusicDinosaur JrIndieCultureSat, 15 Sep 2012 23:04:04 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/sep/16/dinosaur-jr-bet-sky-reviewPhil Mongredien2012-09-15T23:04:04ZDinosaur Jr: I Bet on Sky – reviewhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/sep/13/dinosaur-jr-bet-sky-review
(Play It Again Sam)<br /><p>If you've heard even a fraction of the music Dinosaur Jr have released since the mid-1980s (and if you haven't, treat yourself to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDidZue9BIA" title="">Freak Scene</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbNmTyDhIas" title="">The Wagon</a>), broadly speaking you already know what their 10th album sounds like. J Mascis doesn't so much sing as lie in the gutter and murmur through a pile of dead leaves and gravel. But set against the sleepy crackle of his voice is the coruscating energy of his guitar, which strains at the leash of every song until it surges into a solo of needling, insistent power. I Bet on Sky offers no variations on the grand theme, but pleasures in the detail: a blood-drenched riff in What Was That; a fragile cadence to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNm_8SgsqXA&amp;feature=youtu.be" title="">Stick a Toe In</a>. Wistfulness aches at its heart, as Mascis knowingly soundtracks the mood of nostalgia that sends people rummaging secretly through Facebook to gaze at pictures of their teenage sweethearts and dream about the children they'll never share.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/sep/13/dinosaur-jr-bet-sky-review">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockIndieMusicDinosaur JrCultureThu, 13 Sep 2012 21:26:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/sep/13/dinosaur-jr-bet-sky-reviewMaddy Costa2012-09-13T21:26:01ZMusic festival fans swap mudbaths for sun, sea and snorkelshttp://www.theguardian.com/culture/2012/aug/08/music-fans-rock-cruises
Bands including Pulp, Weezer and Dinosaur Jr provide the entertainment on rock cruises that offer warm beds, good food – and no rain<p>Imagine a music festival where the evening ends not in a soggy sleeping bag but with crisp white bed linen, where queues at the bar are replaced by waiter service, and, no matter who's playing, you'll always end up feeling moved.</p><p>The good news is that the rock cruise, where bands play over a few days on a cruise ship, is already here, featuring acts including Pulp and R Kelly.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2012/aug/08/music-fans-rock-cruises">Continue reading...</a>Music festivalsFestivalsMusicCultureFestivalsTravelPulpUK newsDinosaur JrWorld newsWed, 08 Aug 2012 15:35:20 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/culture/2012/aug/08/music-fans-rock-cruisesMikala Taylor/guardian.co.ukThe Weezer cruise took the band and 2,000 fans from Miami to Mexico, along with Dinosaur Jr and Sebadoh. Photograph: Mikala Taylor/guardian.co.ukMikala Taylor/guardian.co.ukWeezer cruise Photograph: Mikala Taylor/guardian.co.ukPaul Moody2012-08-08T15:35:20ZJ Mascis: 'I never took it that seriously'http://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/aug/03/j-mascis-dinosaur-jr-interview
The godfather of grunge on being rock's least loquacious talker, the merits of free dental care, and whether his band Dinosaur Jr were the Chuck Berry to Nirvana's Beatles<p><strong>Hi, J. Where are you?</strong></p><p>At the K-West hotel in West London. I'm in London doing interviews for the new Dinosaur Jr album <strong><a href="#1">(1</a><a name="1back">)</a></strong>.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/aug/03/j-mascis-dinosaur-jr-interview">Continue reading...</a>Dinosaur JrMusicIndiePop and rockCultureFri, 03 Aug 2012 17:15:59 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/aug/03/j-mascis-dinosaur-jr-interviewTimothy Herzog/PRJ Mascis from Dinosaur Jr ... 'Where do you go when you’ve achieved your goal?' Photograph: Timothy HerzogTimothy Herzog/PRJ Mascis from Dinosaur Jr ... 'Where do you go when you’ve achieved your goal?' Photograph: Timothy HerzogPaul Lester2012-08-03T17:15:59ZKurt Vile – reviewhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/feb/22/kurt-vile-review
Koko, London<p>Now that every MacBook is an Abbey Road studio you can destroy with one fumbled Frappuccino, it can seem as though 87% of Americans have become frazzled troubadours knocking out no-fi fuzz-folk albums in the hope of bagging the ultimate US-indie prize: the company of Zooey Deschanel. At the forefront of this hirsute horde is Philadelphia's <a href="http://kurtvile.com/" title="">Kurt Vile</a>, purveyor of psychedelic folk with hints of Neil Young, Bob Dylan, the Velvet Underground and a very stoned Fleetwood Mac. Vile is one of the scene's least recognisable figures, too – he tunes up on stage for five minutes before anybody in the crowd realises&nbsp;it's&nbsp;him.</p><p>Though stark, esoteric and charming on record, his music can become as anonymous in a live setting as he is. He has three gears. First is the slacker busker, played with foul-mouthed dischord on Can't Come, with a pastoral&nbsp;flounce on Peeping Tomboy, and drowned out by crowd chatter on My Best Friends (Don't Even Pass This). Second is strident, grunge revivalist who drapes On Tour with Sonic Youth's serrated satin and who yelps through the gnarled rock hoedown, Freeway. And third is the deployer of the hypnotic&nbsp;psych drone, such as the one&nbsp;that brings <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leMQ2kLtQlY" title="">Smoke Ring for My Halo</a>&nbsp;to a&nbsp;climax akin to a modern <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwzaifhSw2c" title="">Venus&nbsp;in Furs</a>.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/feb/22/kurt-vile-review">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockCultureMusicZooey DeschanelNeil YoungBob DylanFleetwood MacDinosaur JrBruce SpringsteenWed, 22 Feb 2012 18:56:32 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/feb/22/kurt-vile-reviewMark Beaumont2012-02-22T18:56:32ZAll aboard the Weezer cruise: an extensive reporthttp://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2012/feb/06/weezer-cruise
Our indie professor is so indie she signed up for a holiday on a boat with Dinosaur Jr, Sebadoh and Weezer. And she's such a professor, she wrote an end-of-term report about it ...<p>One of the things I love about a destination festival is that it takes you away from your everyday life. And a music cruise takes the destination festival to a whole new level. When I grew up, it seemed that a cruise was something you did when you retired. The sort of trip you went on when you were afraid to fly or when you'd decided pajama jeans were the best clothing option. I knew at some point cruises had mutated into family vacations, or moving spring breaks with drunken sexual shenanigans, but nothing could prepare me for the awesomeness of the Weezer Cruise.</p><p>The cruise departed from Miami for a four-night jaunt to Cozumel and back. It featured Weezer, Sebadoh, Dinosaur Jr, the Antlers, Yuck, Free Energy and others. As well as music, there were activities and theme nights: ugly sweaters, 80s prom, and moustaches. You could try beer tasting with Boom Bip or watch the belly flop contest judged by the Antlers, attend a Q&amp;A with Weezer, or do yoga with Star of Ozma.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2012/feb/06/weezer-cruise">Continue reading...</a>WeezerIndieDinosaur JrPop and rockMusicCultureMon, 06 Feb 2012 17:16:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2012/feb/06/weezer-cruiseWendy Fonarow/Wendy FonarowSweater songs … Weezer with their cruise shirts. Photograph: Wendy FonarowWendy Fonarow/Wendy FonarowGetchoo … Weezer open the cruise. Photograph: Wendy FonarowWendy Fonarow/Wendy FonarowAcross the sea … the Weezer ship sets sail. Photograph: Wendy FonarowWendy Fonarow2012-02-06T17:16:00ZOpen thread: What's your favourite music documentary?http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/nov/01/open-thread-music-documentaries
As several high-profile music docs hit our screens, tell us which is best and win a copy of 1991: The Year Punk Broke<p>2011 is proving to be a good year for music documentaries. Last month saw the UK release of <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/sep/29/george-harrison-material-world-review" title="">Living in the Material World</a>, Martin Scorcese's acclaimed and exhaustive tribute to George Harrison, which followed hot on the heels of <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/sep/15/pearl-jam-twenty-film-review" title="">Pearl Jam 20</a>, Cameron Crowe's history of the grunge survivors.</p><p></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/nov/01/open-thread-music-documentaries">Continue reading...</a>CultureMusicPearl JamSonic YouthMudhoneyNirvanaDinosaur JrGeorge HarrisonTue, 01 Nov 2011 15:51:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/nov/01/open-thread-music-documentariesGuardianSonic Youth, pictured a significant number of years after 1991. Photograph: GuardianGuardianSonic Youth, pictured a significant number of years after 1991 Photograph: GuardianAdam Boult2011-11-01T15:51:03ZMale Bonding: Endless Now – reviewhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/aug/28/male-bonding-endless-now-review
(Sub Pop)<p>London-based trio Male Bonding deservedly won plaudits for their tuneful and uptempo punk on last year's debut, <em>Nothing Hurts</em>, but failed to translate that acclaim into significant sales. Their second album once again combines the muscularity of 80s post-hardcore types H&uuml;sker D&uuml; and Dinosaur Jr with the dynamics of breezily sunny three-minute pop songs, this time to even better effect. Opener &quot;Tame the Sun&quot; sets the tone, racing by in a blur as harmonies and infectiously melodic hooks tumble over one another, while &quot;Carrying&quot; and the six-minute &quot;Bones&quot; raise the bar even higher. Highly recommended.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/aug/28/male-bonding-endless-now-review">Continue reading...</a>IndiePop and rockDinosaur JrMusicCultureSat, 27 Aug 2011 23:05:07 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/aug/28/male-bonding-endless-now-reviewPhil Mongredien2011-08-27T23:05:07ZThe great rock'n'roll sellouthttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/30/rocknroll-sellout
Gone are the days when bands would be scorned for getting into bed with corporate sponsors and brands, so what ever happened to "selling out"?<p>In last month's issue of Q magazine, old-fashioned indie values found an unlikely champion. &quot;I don't want my name anywhere near another brand,&quot; declared Adele. &quot;I don't wanna be tainted, or haunted, and I don't wanna sell out in any way. I think it's shameful.&quot;</p><p>Coming from a 23-year-old in 2011, let alone the biggest pop star in Britain, these words seemed quaintly archaic. Twenty years ago, &quot;sellout&quot; was the most damning insult in rock. If you licensed a song to an advert you were, in the words of Bill Hicks's memorable routine, &quot;off the artistic roll call forever. You're another whore at the capitalist gang bang … Everything you say is suspect and every word that comes out of your mouth is now like a turd falling into my drink.&quot;</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/30/rocknroll-sellout">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockMusicCultureGroove ArmadaFaithlessDinosaur JrSonic YouthNeil YoungThe SmithsNirvanaPearl JamIggy PopLed ZeppelinBob DylanBlack KeysDuffyBright EyesFleet FoxesThe Go! TeamSuper Furry AnimalsThu, 30 Jun 2011 21:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/30/rocknroll-selloutDorian Lynskey2011-06-30T21:00:00ZGreg Ginn turns a radio parts company into SST Recordshttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/14/greg-ginn-sst-records
June 1979: Number 17 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of indie music<p>It's been punned that one day the geeks will inherit the earth, but self-starter Greg Ginn wasn't the sort to wait for it to be handed to him. The guitarist in punk rock group Panic, Ginn also operated his own radio parts company, Solid State Transmitters, out of his parents' house in Californian suburb Hermosa Beach. In January 1978, Panic had recorded their debut EP, Nervous Breakdown (a session financed by revenues from Ginn's company), with LA indie label Bomp! offering to release it. But when money troubles at Bomp! delayed the release by 18 months – during which time Panic renamed themselves Black Flag – Ginn paid $2,000 to have a thousand copies of the&nbsp;EP pressed up on his own new label, SST Records.</p><p>SST would release all Black Flag's records until their split in 1986, but it was no mere vanity label. Key albums by luminaries of the 1980s American hardcore and underground rock scenes were released on SST, including the Minutemen, H&uuml;sker D&uuml;, Meat Puppets, Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr. Some bands grumbled about the label's non-existent accounting – they would sell tens of thousands of records and barely see a dollar – and quit SST, but its importance to the US alternative rock scene is unquestioned. Indeed, the label's impressive catalogue is held in such esteem that transistor gear produced by Ginn's Solid State Transmitters in the 1970s – stamped with the same logo found on every SST album – is now fiercely sought after by collectors on eBay.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/14/greg-ginn-sst-records">Continue reading...</a>IndieMusicCultureSonic YouthDinosaur JrMon, 13 Jun 2011 23:34:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/14/greg-ginn-sst-recordsFrank Mullen/WireImageBlack Flag perform in 1982. Photograph: Frank Mullen/WireImageFrank Mullen/WireImageBlack Flag perform in 1982. Photograph: Frank Mullen/WireImageStevie Chick2011-06-13T23:34:03ZJ Mascis on the guitarists you must hearhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/mar/12/dinosaur-jr-mascis-favourite-guitarists
The Dinosaur Jr axe-grinder has inspired two generations of guitarists. But now he's turning down the volume, who else should we be listening to? NB They're all in Spotify for you <a href="http://open.spotify.com/user/thehorse1/playlist/63Yo30sOWDcHZXpSlnc7E3" title="here">here</a><p>It's not easy to coax ageing rock musicians out of their comfort zones, so kudos to Sub Pop, who've managed to cajole ultimate guitar fuzz fiend J Mascis into making an acoustic album. The sometime Dinosaur Jr frontman has risen to the challenge with a rather lovely collection of tender singer-songwriterly efforts called Several Shades Of Why, featuring guests such as <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/band-of-horses" title="Band Of Horses">Band Of Horses</a>' Ben Bridwell and ex-Mercury Rev flautist Suzanne Thorpe. The album is an unqualified success, although J can't say he exactly enjoyed the process of making it.</p><p>&quot;It's good to have certain restrictions sometimes, but it's definitely more fun to play really loud, with distortion,&quot; smiles the eternal teenager, over a mug of green tea in the lounge of London's K West Hotel. &quot;Generally my songs are just some riffs slung together as an excuse for a guitar solo.&quot;</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/mar/12/dinosaur-jr-mascis-favourite-guitarists">Continue reading...</a>MusicPop and rockIndieDinosaur JrCultureSat, 12 Mar 2011 00:02:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/mar/12/dinosaur-jr-mascis-favourite-guitaristsTimothy HerzogJ Mascis. Photograph: Timothy HerzogTimothy HerzogJ Mascis. Photograph: Timothy HerzogSam Richards2011-03-12T00:02:00ZThe death of rock | Sam Leithhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jan/16/sam-leith-death-of-rock
<p>So Neil Young was wrong. &quot;Rock and roll will never die,&quot; <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrsWUY9HA-Y" title="the whiny-voiced old coot told us">the whiny-voiced old coot told us</a>, and we believed him. But now along comes Paul Gambaccini, the self-styled &quot;Professor of Pop&quot;, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jan/10/rock-n-roll-read-last-rites" title="to announce">to announce</a> that, since only three rock songs appeared in last year's top 100 singles, the genre has expired.</p><p>&quot;It is the end of the rock era. It's over, in the same way the jazz era is over,&quot; Gambaccini said, dancing on the grave of Ronnie James Dio like some demented Mr Punch. &quot;That doesn't mean there will be no more good rock musicians, but rock as a prevailing style is part of music history.&quot; <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvZyGp-LG4I" title="God gave rock'n'roll to you">God gave rock'n'roll to you</a>, gave rock'n'roll to you, gave rock'n'roll to everyone: but what the Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jan/16/sam-leith-death-of-rock">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockPixiesDinosaur JrJane's AddictionLed ZeppelinSuedePrimal ScreamSonic YouthMusicCultureSun, 16 Jan 2011 22:00:02 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jan/16/sam-leith-death-of-rockYui Mok/PAEau de rock … Ronnie James Dio. Photograph: Yui Mok/PAYui Mok/PAEau de rock … Ronnie James Dio. Photograph: Yui Mok/PASam Leith2011-01-16T22:00:02ZDinosaur Jr's J Mascis announces new bandhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/dec/03/dinosaur-jr-j-mascis
The veteran guitar wizard has formed a new group whose sound he describes as 'catchy power-pop, crushing rock and wounded ballads'. So another grunge band then ...<p>Dinosaur Jr's J Mascis has launched a new band, the gently named Sweet Apple. The group, featuring members of Cobra Verde and Witch, are to release their debut album on 30 March 2010.</p><p>Their formation was announced with suitably dramatic language, claiming to have &quot;been born by accident and friendship – out of death, after a cross-country drive&quot;. Apparently, singer-guitarist John Petkovic went on a road trip after the death of his mother; he headed east from Cleveland, smoking cigarettes, not knowing where he was headed. Eventually, he met up with Mascis and Witch bassist Dave Sweetapple, both old friends. And Mascis told him to write some songs. &quot;I tell people that I saved John's life by starting this band,&quot; he said. &quot;But they don't believe me.&quot;</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/dec/03/dinosaur-jr-j-mascis">Continue reading...</a>Dinosaur JrPop and rockMusicCultureThu, 03 Dec 2009 10:36:44 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/dec/03/dinosaur-jr-j-mascisPRPrehistoric sounds ... Sweet Apple featuring Dinosaur Jr's J MascisPRSweet Apple featuring Dinosaur Jr's J MascisSean Michaels2009-12-03T10:36:44Z